ALLENTOWN, Pa. – The Cedar Crest College volleyball team split a pair of matches in a home tri-match on Saturday afternoon at Lees Gymnasium. The Falcons were swept by Ursinus College, 3-0, and then took care of Goucher College in straight sets, 3-0 in the nightcap.

Match One – Ursinus 3, Cedar Crest 0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-15)

In the first set after the Falcons went up 5-4, Ursinus ripped off a 9-0 run to build a 13-5 advantage. Later in the frame, Cedar Crest pulled to within five, 20-15, after a kill by graduate student Ziah Melton (Allentown, Pa./William Allen). The Bears closed on a 5-2 run to take the opening set, 25-17.

The teams traded the first 20 points of the second set, 10-10. With the score 16-14 in favor of Ursinus, the Bears then embarked on a 9-3 run to capture the stanza, 25-17.

Ursinus started the third set quick with a 7-0 run and increased its advantage to eight, 9-1. The Falcons cut its deficit to four, 12-8, after a kill by Melton. The Bears responded with six consecutive points to push the margin to 10, 18-8. Cedar Crest got back to within eight, 22-14, after a 3-0 mini-run. Ursinus scored three of the final four points to win the set and the match in straight sets.

Senior Caroline Sherman (Bear, Del.) paced the Bears with 10 kills, one assist, three service aces, and five digs. Senior Rachel Bernard (Jacksonville, Fla.) had a team-high 14 assists. Senior Emma Illovsky (Harrington Park, N.J.) tied for a match-high with 11 digs.

Melton led the Falcons with seven kills. Sophomore Tianlly Davila (Frederick, Md./Governor Thomas Johnson) handed out a match-high 18 assists. Junior Alana Connor (Manassas, Va./Charles J. Colgan) guided the Cedar Crest defense with 11 digs.

Match Two – Cedar Crest 3, Goucher 0 (25-12, 25-21, 25-11)

Cedar Crest led wire-to-wire in the opening set, getting out to a 6-1 advantage and stretching the margin to 15 later in the set after 10-1 run to make the score 21-6. Goucher rallied with four consecutive points, but the Falcons finished on a 4-2 spurt to win the opening set, 25-12.

With the score tied at 11 in the second set, the Gophers built a five-point advantage, 17-12, after a 6-1 run. Cedar Crest answered with an 11-2 run make the score 23-19. The teams each scored two points in the final stages of the set as the Falcons came away with the 25-21 triumph.

Cedar Crest jumped out to a seven-point lead in the final set, capped off by a 6-0 run and a kill from junior Alana Connor (Manassas, Va./Charles J. Colgan). With the score 14-8, the Falcons went on another big run, this time a 10-1 run and would close out the frame with a 14-point victory, 25-11.

Senior Akashia Johnson (Baltimore, Md./Baltimore Polytechnic Institute) was the team leader for Cedar Crest in kills with nine. Junior Ellise Everett (Orlando, Fla./Lake Nona) followed with eight kills, one block, and three digs. Connor chipped in eight kills, two assists, five service aces, and 13 digs. Davila added 25 more assists to go along with two kills, two service aces, and six digs. Graduate student Rebekka Sanchez-Castro (Columbia, Md./Atholton) had a team-high 21 digs, one kill, four assists, and four service aces.

First-year Alex Dzhygit (Baltimore, Md.) guided Goucher with six kills.

Cedar Crest (5-10 overall) will begin conference play on Tuesday, October 1 in a home match against Bryn Athyn College starting at 7:00 p.m.